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jessara40k_lj) wrote2005-05-20 08:16 am
jessara40k_lj) wrote2005-05-20 08:16 am
Fic The World's Heart Part D
Here's some more of World's Heart.
Vlad watched the Dark Guardian leave, trying to work out what he'd meant by 'other things', until Gaius yelled at him to get back to the exercises he'd assigned. But he still wondered about those comments.
:The World's Heart has been touching me, and he took me from Arioch. Does he expect me to perform similar services for him? Was what he said, and the way he stroked my hair a hint? It won't be too bad if he does, if it was, he seemed to be disgusted by what Arioch was doing, so I don't think he'd want to hurt me as part of sex. And life here is much better than it was with Arioch. Warming his bed would be a small price to pay for all of this. I'll...go to him tonight. If it wasn't a hint he won't hurt me too much, even if he doesn't want me I don't think he'll be angry, or not too angry, if I try to please him, but if he was hinting, and I don't go...he'll be furious.:
"That's enough Vlad. You were moving better there, why don't we call it a day?"
"Yes sir." Vlad looked at the human in shock. He'd been so lost in his thoughts and what he'd been doing that he hadn't noticed the time passing. He fed as deeply as he could on the flesh thing before his lesson with Alessandra and then cleaned himself totally and used one of the tricks the younger vampire had taught him to dry his hair.
:I wish I dared get this cut off. It's too much hassle to maintain, but...Arioch liked my hair long, and I don't know if Lord Xander is the same.:
He made his way to the Dark Guardian's bedchamber, stripped, folding his clothes neatly and laying them to one side, and got into the bed to wait for his owner. No matter how scared the idea made him he was going to do whatever it took to keep his new master happy with him, happy enough to return him to Arioch when he tired of him.
"What the hell?" He'd managed to slip into a light sleep despite his anxiety while he was waiting for Xander - one thing being with Arioch had taught him was to get whatever respite he could, by now he could sleep even if he'd been chained up in any number of awkward positions. Vlad cowered back against the bed, rapidly reconsidering the wisdom of what he'd decided to do earlier. But the Dark Guardian didn't seem angry, more startled.
He moved forward and gently pulled the covers back to expose Vlad's naked body.
"What are you doing in my bed, like this?"
"I...I thought that you were hinting at...and I'm grateful to you for getting me away from Arioch. I wanted to show you just how grateful."
"First, I have never expected anyone to come to my bed unless they wanted to be there. And second, in this form I'm exclusively hetero - that means I only want women, never men." He must have sensed Vlad's confusion to explain like that. "It's about as rare as my being female, but that really doesn't matter. Do you have clothes here?"
"Yes lord."
"Then get dressed and get out of here." Vlad obeyed swiftly, praying to a God he no longer believed in that Xander wouldn't punish him for what he'd done. When he got back to his bedroom he threw himself down on the bed and let the tears fall down his face, hoping that he hadn't just screwed up so badly that the Dark Guardian planned to kill him.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Xander focused fully on controlling his temper as Vlad dressed and left his bedroom. He knew that the vampire would misunderstand the reason that he was angry if he let it show. vlad would assume that he was angry because he'd found himin his bed, not because Arioch had damaged him so badly that he thought he had to share Xander's bed to earn what he was being taught, and how he was being treated.
~Alessandra!~ The younger mideon came to him instantly.
"What's wrong my lord?"
"I found Vlad waiting for me in my bed, I want you to go to him, and reassure him that I'm not angry with him. I'm impressed with his courage and dedication to his family. Tell the others I'm sorry, I can't stay here now, I'm too pissed at what's been done to Vlad, and he'll assume I'm angry at him." And with that Xander dissolved into smoke, returning to the mortal world. But he wasn't going to return to Hellsing, not now. Instead he scanned the world for the most dangerous demon he could find.
There was a group of idiot children - well, they were in their early twenties, but they still seemed like children to him, even compared to Buffy or Willow - who had somehow managed to summon a Eighth Circle True Demon - not the hybrids that existed on Earth, but a True Demon. It wasn't as much of a threat as it would appear, the humans who'd summoned it had to remain alive to channel energy from whatever Hell dimension the creature came from to keep it on Earth, and they'd die in no more than a week from the strain. It would have been easy for Xander to get rid of it by killing the humans who'd now become the conduit for energy to keep the Demon on the planet, too easy, and he wanted to at least try to save them.
So, instead of just killing the humans he attacked the Demon, in a pure physical fight. Well, it was mostly physical. Even sealed he could allow his power to flow through him enough that his blows actually hurt the creature in a way that would take blessed silver, or Cold Iron, or enchantment under normal circumstances. Even so, more than once the only thing that saved him was his ability to teleport. It took him nearly ten hours, hours during which his immunity to magic, regenerative capacities, strength, speed and stamina were stretched to the limit, with the Demon realising that magical attacks only made Xander stronger about seven hours into the fight, but he finally managed to kill the Demon. Then he cursed himself for not thinking to take it outside of this world, to the one his people inhabited, but outside of any of their strongholds. If he'd done that, with no restrictions on his power, he could have killed the thing in an instant - except he'd wanted and needed an all out fight, not a simple execution.
He returned to the manor, not really thinking about where he should teleport to, except for wanting to be somewhere discrete, and so he had to walk through the grounds covered in blood and viscera, more the Demon's than his, but enough of his to scare people. The soldiers fell silent as he walked through them, and Xander wasn't up to saying anything either.
"Xander. What happened?" The blonde knight was standing waiting for him in the hallway, and Alucard was leaning against the wall behind her.
:Someone must have told Sir Integra, does she want me to pretend this was something she sent me on or...I'll claim it was for the Watcher's Council.: "Sir Integra, the Watcher's Council contacted me, to check I didn't have any mission for you. When I confirmed that I didn't they asked me to deal with an Eighth Circle Demon summoning. I had to destroy the Demon to save the idiots who summoned it, and everyone within a hundred miles."
"You could have invited me to join in the fun." Alucard actually managed to sound sulky, like a teenager told he couldn't go to a party. ~Why were you so enraged you felt the need to do this lord?~
~Because your past self thought he had to let me RAPE him to keep my protection!~ "That wasn't exactly an option Dragonling, they had Slayers available, and Buffy to the contrary, most Slayers don't work too well with vamps, of any breed. They just needed a tactical leader, someone who would recognise the Demon and know its weaknesses. And it helped I'm one hell of a lot harder to kill now. Takes a lickin', keeps on tickin', you know?"
"I see. Next time this happens inform me of it beforehand." That was all the reprimand Sir Integra made, and the soldiers all made a point of patting him on the back. Until Alucard decided to lift him into his arms.
"You did notice that he's exhausted. I'm sure he'll tell you all the stories you want to hear tomorrow."
Xander barely noticed it when Alucard laid him in his own bed, and absently granted him permission to taste the blood on his skin, which action prompted a sound of disgust at the taste. He trusted the vampire enough not to protest when he proceded to undress him, and fell asleep while that happened.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Sir Integra hadn't understood what Xander's report had meant at all, and she was certain that at least some of it was a lie. But he was all too clearly incapable of giving her a more accurate and full report under conditions where no one would overhear things he needed to keep secret. On the other hand...
~Alucard!~ It wasn't as satisfying to yell at the vampire mentally, but it meant that people didn't doubt her sanity the way they'd seemed to when she talked to him over a distance before.
~I'm busy cleaning the Dark Guardian up, do you really think he should sleep this off covered in demon blood?~
~Report to me when you've finished. I have some questions for you.~ Integra paused before she continued. ~How long do you think he'll need to recover?~
~Not very long, between one and two hours. He's recovering already, this deep sleep is just a quicker way than staying awake would be. It's a sign of trust. He could easily stay awake, and function at not that much less than his normal ablities. He'd still be recovered within a day at most.~
It took almost half an hour for Alucard to come to her office. "What took you so long?"
"Demon viscera can be hard to clean from someone's skin - especially when you're trying not to wake that person."
"How much of what Xander said was true, and how much was a lie?"
"It wasn't the Watchers who sent him after the Demon - he hunted it out and attacked it because he was angry, and wanted something to take his anger out on. And he was by himself."
"How do you know?"
The vampire shrugged slightly. "I know that if he's angry and can't get at the source of his anger for some reason he seeks out a fight for a good cause as tough as possible, or the most dangerous sparring partner he can find. And...he told me what prompted his actions."
"And what was that?"
"When he first borrowed me from Arioch I thought he wanted some of the same things, although not quite as violently I hoped."
:What does he mean? Oh, he's talking about sex. Is it still that painful for him?: "I don't see how that's relevant." Integra let her distaste for the subject fill her voice.
"He found out about the expectations my younger self had before he returned to this world, and fought the demon."
"What do you know about the demon then?"
"Noth-" A strange look passed over Alucard's face for a moment then. "I was going to say nothing, but I just remembered what he taught me during the hundred years or so before I was returned to this world. I was a 'special project' of his, and he made a point of teaching me about all types of demons in detail. The demon was summoned, so it was most likely a True Demon, dependent on energy drawn from its own dimension to stay in this world, and impossible to harm other than that caused by a weapon empowered by, or disruptive to, magic - meaning blessed silver, Cold Iron or enchanted weapons. Or Xander's own energy channeled into his body fully. The only demons that can stay on this world without support from a Hell dimension are...adulterated with something of humans, or some other creature native to this world. A human who undergoes an Ascension ritual to become a demon is also an adulterated demon, albeit one close in power to the form of True Demon he was aiming for - they usually end up in the appropriate Hell dimension, but they're rare, so they don't often get summoned. Most summoning rituals aren't that specific. Adulterated demons can be harmed by more mundane methods, they might heal quickly, but they can be harmed, and a powerful enough explosion will usually kill them at need. And usually anything that represents divinity will harm the weakest of the adulterated demons, even if it hasn't been blessed. Blessed blades work on most adulterated demons, but only on a few True Demons, depending on who did the blessing, and how."
"So, now you're as good a source for information on demons as Xander is?"
"Not quite, but good enough, my master." And then the blasted vampire decided to disappear.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Alucard returned to Xander's bedroom. He wasn't sure how well the other man would take having Alucard guard him while he slept, but...he thought better when he was around the World's Heart, and he had the feeling Xander's sleep would be more restful with someone around to watch over him. And he needed to think. He wasn't sure whether to be grateful that he knew all of that about demons, or resent the fact that he hadn't been able to remember it before this. All he was certain of was that he was relieved he knew what he'd spent the last time he'd been lent to the Dark Guardian learning. He hadn't been able to remember it before and it had bothered him, quite a lot.
His mind turned to what had happened after his attempt to earn Xander's favour in his bed. First Alessandra had come to him, comforted him and reassured him until he finally believed that the World's Heart wouldn't punish him for his stupidity. But she'd mentioned that he'd left because of what he'd done, and he was terrified that the rest of the people sworn to the Dark Guardian would be angry at that - he'd seen how much they loved him - and make his life a misery because of that.
So, when Gaius had explained that he was to be punished for his stupidity officially the next day at first he was frozen stiff with terror, until he learned exactly how he would be punished. Gaius had explained that he would be strapped every day, until their lord returned, and he'd gone limp with relief, because on the physical side it was such a light punishment, even with the strange ointment they used to slow his healing down to a human rate, and it would cut off any efforts at informal punishment.
Alucard chuckled as he thought about it. Even then he'd been powerful enough, if he'd really recognised the fact, to kill everyone there, except possibly Alessandra, but he'd submitted to their punishment because he was so used to being hurt and abused, and kept under cruel discipline that it had never occurred to him that he had another option. And it was a light discipline, something even a human could have survived without undue suffering, he'd been far more worried about losing any of the things he'd come to see as priviledges under Arioch's care, like being permitted to stay clean, or having the chance to learn about his powers and how to fight better.
"Wha-?" Xander stirred then, sitting up and looking directly at Alucard. "Why are you here?" His voice was colder than usual, and Alucard knew it was because of what his younger self had done.
"I think better in your presence World's Heart. Sir Integra asked me about demons, and I remembered what you taught me last of all, I explained to her the difference between True Demons and adulterated, and I expect she'll want you to give her a fuller report later."
"I see. Did you undress and clean me?"
"Yes, does that offend you, that I tended to you as if you were a wounded warrior?"
"Guess not. What in Hell's name were you thinking when you offered yourself to me back then?"
"I thought that you hinted for me to come to your bed, and if you wanted me and I didn't come I'd be in more trouble than if you didn't and I did." Xander looked disgusted at that.
"Get out of my sight. Give me time to deal, we'll talk later. I don't hold what happened against you, I promise."
~~~oo()oo~~~
Xander muttered a few curses to himself as he left Sir Integra's office. She'd kept him answering her questions for nigh on two hours, and ended up getting an exhaustive, detailed description of his fight with the Demon - although not of what had prompted it, beyond a simple confirmation that Vlad, Alucard's younger self had offered himself to Xander. Integra had expressed surprise that he would refuse, she hadn't said it, but Xander thought the main reason she'd said no to Alucard was fear of losing her control over him. So he'd had to explain again that in this life he was exclusively heterosexual - and even if he hadn't been, in no life had he ever raped, and sleeping with someone so totally in his power was rape, however much it was dressed up and disguised. Integra had looked slightly guilty at that - Alucard was almost as totally in her power now as Vlad had been in his - and he made a point of reminding her that Alucard could appeal to Xander to destroy the seals, and free him at any time, Xander would have to give him what he asked for, but he hadn't asked for it.
And now he had the choice of seeking out Alucard and speaking to him about Vlad's actions, finding out the motivation behind them in more detail, and understanding the younger No Life King better, or letting the soldiers ambush him to answer their questions about how he'd killed the Demon yesterday, questions he didn't want to answer again. :Alucard's the better option.: And he quickly searched the manor for the vampire mentally.
"Hello Alucard." He formed out of smoke in the catacombs and the mideon looked at him with wide shocked eyes.
"Hello. What did you wish to discuss in regards to my behaviour?" He sounded as if he'd accepted that he was to be judged, although unsure of what for, and considered Xander to be acting perfectly within his rights.
"Did you really think I would demand that you have sex with me in return for the protection I'd given you? Even after you heard me talk of sending Alessandra back to Morrigan without any prejudice?" Xander knew the disgust he felt at that idea was plain in his voice.
"You also told me that she'd been sharing your bed for nigh on seventy-five years, and at the time I interpreted what you said as meaning you would return her because she would no longer have sex with you. Arioch had lent me to others of your kind, including Jenova." Alucard had slid from his seat as he spoke, offering it to Xander as he curled up on the floor instead, and he shuddered slightly at mentioning Jenova's name - the only one of their kind more cruel than Arioch. Xander reached out and ran a hand swiftly down his back, as if he were petting a dog, calming him. "They all demanded sex, I couldn't see any reason you would be different."
"Hellfires. I scared you with my reaction I think, did Alessandra manage to calm you down and reassure you of your place with me?" Xander swallowed uncomfortably before he asked the next question. "And...did you come to learn better than to think I would rape you?"
"Yes, to both questions," Alucard twisted to smile up at Xander as he answered, "but...you still didn't return to your home for a number of days. Can you arrange for the next few days to be busy? I'm not asking you to force mideons to cause trouble, just if any are going to in the near future can you get them to do it now? Or over the next week or two?"
"I'm not sure." Xander shut his eyes, reaching out with his mind to sense all the mideons in Brittain - and his eyes snapped open as he realised he could sense the FREAK vampires too. "Yes, I think I can, but not now, this needs to be done subtly. Did I claim the press of battles when I returned to explain why I'd neglected them?" He could also sense that Alessandra was in the country, but she was never a fighter, and her behaviour had reflected that, so he didn't bother mentioning her.
"You might have, I do not remember. I just thought it might help convince the men how dangerous you are, even better than your casual comment about destroying a Demon." There was something Alucard wasn't telling him, but Xander dismissed that, it didn't really matter. He sighed and prepared to face the soldiers to explain what had happened the day before.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Sir Integra let herself collapse into her chair, looking over the paperwork in front of her with pure despair. She had to sign off on, and in some cases write, reports for every action the Hellsing organisation undertook, and for the last fortnight there hadn't been so much as a night that had passed without action. But they'd had far fewer casualties that she'd have expected, less even than they'd have had with normal activity, and Integra suspected that was because of Xander. Not only was he the best fighter she had - or second best with the way he held himself back, but he'd persuaded Seras to feed enough that she'd almost doubled in strength. She'd been able to send Seras to deal with the weaker of the FREAKs, along with a squad or more of human soldiers to back her up and dispose of the ghouls, while Alucard and Xander dealt with the stronger of the FREAKs, and killed all the ghouls too without any further back-up.
There was a respectful knock at the door. Sir Integra muttered a curse to herself. :I have to let them in, but if it's Seras to complain again about the training Xander's giving her...: Xander had insisted on continuing to train Seras in how to feed without killing, despite the pressures Hellsing was under, and he'd informed her that the sparring they did beforehand would help her gain greater control. "Come in."
"Hello Sir Integra."
"Xander, you better have a good reason to interrupt me. I have far too much paperwork to be interrupted for anything trivial."
"I wanted to invite you to visit my home. Wait!" Xander lifted one hand to forestall her exploding in fury. "Before you say anything else, let me explain. I can set up an office for you within seconds. You can pick up as much of that paperwork as you want, and take it with you, finish it over the course of a week or so, and I can return us to this instant, or not too long after - ten minutes or so perhaps. I wasn't aware of how much paperwork this constant campaign would generate, or I would never have done as Alucard asked and encouraged the mideon derived vampires who were going to cause trouble within the next six months to all cause trouble at the maximum rate we could deal with militarily. It didn't occur to me that we had more military than administrative capabilities - no fault of yours of course. But I can promise you that we'll only have to deal with one more week at most, and then the next six months should be almost totally free of trouble."
"Very well." Sir Integra began gathering her papers together, picking up a few pens and pencils too as she spoke. "Do you know why that blasted vampire asked you to do that? And why did you agree?" She would save a lecture for later, when they were safe from any chance of eavesdroppers.
"I think he might be trying to manipulate things, so that something he remembers happening to him when he was Vlad actually does happen. I can't blame him for that, and I would have told him not to reveal too much of his past even to me when it lay in my future. I knew he wasn't telling me something, but I did what he asked as much to give the men something else to talk about besides that Demon as for any other reason." Once Sir Integra had gathered all her papers the World's Heart reached out and laid a hand on her arm. She could feel herself dissolving into smoke, then they reappeared in a remarkable replica of her own office.
"You are exhausted Sir Integra. Why not put the papers down, I can introduce you to some of my people, and we can eat. Then I'll show you to a bedroom. Unfortunately, the clothes I've prepared for you don't include underthings, so I'd ask that you give what you're wearing to the maid, and she can have clean things for you in the morning." He gave her another of his disturbing smiles. "Then you can shout at me the way you clearly want to once you're fresh."
Stunned to be so adroitly anticipated, and reminding herself that she was a guest in Xander's home, Sir Integra could only nod her agreement. She set down her papers, and turned to Xander, waiting for him to guide her.
"Why didn't you prepare underthings for me?" She was embarrassed to be asking the question, but it was better than any of the alternatives that sprang to her mind.
"I don't know the right sizes or styles. And it would be inappropriate for me to find out. One of the magical things I created here to make my people's lives easier will make your underthings for you in whatever style you're wearing today. That's how my people get most of their clothing."
~~~oo()oo~~~
~Vlad, Alessandra, Gaius Antonio Aurelius, Gwenhwyvar nic Mael, come to me.~
Vlad hesitated for a moment, despite Xander's generous assumption when he'd arrived he'd only learned how to travel through linked dimensions in the last three days, and he wasn't entirely certain of his skills yet. Then he shrugged. :I can try to enter the linked dimension at least, if I can't get out of it, well, Alessandra and the Dark Guardian will be there, to rescue me from my folly.:
He didn't have any problems, just as well. He wouldn't have wanted to look like a fool in front of the tall platinum blonde sitting beside Lord Xander dressed in a form of obviously male formal wear radiating contempt so strongly that he immediately dropped to his knees in fear and respect. Alessandra obviously didn't perceive this human woman's strength of character in the same way he did, that or she didn't respect it as he did, for she chose to lounge beside her, near to touching her, but with enough sense to at least keep from that.
"I thought we'd been over this Vlad. Get up please." There was a weariness in the World's Heart's voice, and Vlad suddenly found himself filled with self-hatred for putting it there. He recovered from that in seconds, and stood, eyes lowered submissively, waiting for the others to arrive. Gaius just stood to attention to show his respect, but Gwenhwyvar swept a curtsey, waiting for their master to grant her permission to rise.
"This is Sir Integra, head of the Hellsing organisation. She is my guest, and as such you should show her your respect."
:Obey her wishes without question.: That was what the polite formula would mean if it were Arioch speaking. :Or, perhaps the Dark Guardian will accept obedience within reason, he doesn't seem as strict as Arioch.:
"Sir Integra, Gaius Antonio Aurelius is head of my personal guard, he takes care of training my people in fighting, and updating their skills as needed. Gwenhwyvar nic Mael is my chatelaine, she runs my household. Gwen, assign someone to Sir Integra to act as her maid please."
"Yes my lord."
"Alessandra and Vlad are the two mideons I'm currently borrowing. Alessandra belongs to Morrigan, and Vlad to Arioch. Thank you all, you can go, except for you Vlad." The woman remained silent until the others had left.
"So, this will become our Alucard? I could kill him now, and save a lot of trouble." The woman spoke so dispassionately that it was more fearsome than fury or hatred would have been, and Vlad looked to the Dark Guardian in desperate appeal.
"Even if I allowed it, how much good has he done since your ancestor enslaved him? And how many times has he saved your life, or your family name?" Vlad let his relief show at that, and the Dark Guardian turned to him. "I'm sorry about that, you need not have anything more to do with her, but she asked to speak with you, and..." He shrugged, but Vlad understood.
"Might I go then?"
"Yes, of course."
The blonde stayed for five days, spending most of them in the office Xander had created for her, and during that time Vlad sparred with Xander daily. He also finally got up the courage to ask for permission to cut his hair, and was granted it without thought on Xander's part.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Xander decided to make a verbal report to Sir Integra in person as well as the written reports he'd sent to her by e-mail, because this was the last of the incidents he'd accelerated. One thing he'd used to assuage his aching conscience was the thought that these incidents were easier to put down than they would have been if their originators had been given sufficient time to complete their planning; the other of course was that his presence had spared the men most of the risks they'd have had to take acting as Alucard's back-up.
"Xander, I've received your report on your actions in putting down that last nosferatu, and Alucard's, which I assume you prepared for him based on his verbal report?"
"We did it telepathically, but yes, it was the more secure way to do things, any distance communications I initiate can't be intercepted, by anything."
"Thank you anyway. It has relieved me of one duty. Alucard cannot be relied upon to write reports, so until your arrival I had to prepare them for him based upon his verbal report to me."
"If I might ask, why can't you have Alucard write his own reports? I'll teach him the basics of using a computer at some point, is it that you don't think he can do it right, or that you don't think he'd obey you if you told him to?" Xander frowned as he speculated on Sir Integra's reasons. The blonde blushed very faintly.
"Both, I thought he had no experience at all with the more modern equipment, and writing reports hardly seems to be the sort of thing he would do willingly."
"He's done far more unpleasant things because his master at the time commanded it." Xander shrugged as he explained. "But you couldn't have known that. And if you thought he lacked the skills you could have instructed someone to teach him them, but if you thought he would not accept the lessons that would have been pointless. If you'll provide an appropriate computer then I can teach him, so long as you're willing to accept a delay in receiving his reports. But none of this is the reason I came here."
"There's a number of general use terminals, you can ask most people to direct you to them, and I'll have Walter arrange for a personal computer to be set up in Alucard's bedroom, with an internet connection. Do try to make sure he knows he has to limit his use of the internet." Sir Integra frowned then. "Why did you come here? Is this going to be the last time we have to respond to an incident for a while?"
"Pretty much. Vampires might plan something new, but other than that nothing else should happen in the next six months or so."
"Good." Sir Integra was still angry about what she'd learned was the source of the most recent spurt of activity, and Xander knew she'd given Alucard a lecture, just as she'd given him one on how foolish they'd been. "You may leave then."
"Good." Sir Integra was still angry about what she'd learned was the source of the most recent spurt of activity, and Xander knew she'd given Alucard a lecture, just as she'd given him one on how foolish they'd been. "You may leave then."
He didn't have anything more to say, and he couldn't blame Sir Integra for her anger, it was entirely justified, so Xander simply took the unsubtle hint and left, accepting her decision to dismiss him from her presence. But he still needed something to do to release his own anger at being treated that way. So he sought out Seras and told her that he wanted to spar with her again.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Sir Integra was not going to let this messenger disconcert her, even if the message he carried was unnerving.
'Sir Integra Hellsing,
'Please give the enclosed message to the No Life King once known as Vlad, who was changed by Arioch. My messenger will await his response, and of course yours.
'Alessandra, Morrigan's favoured.'
The enclosed message was a folded piece of parchment, sealed with wax, not something she'd ever expected to see outside of history books, and it was addressed to 'Vlad, Arioch's favoured'.
~Alucard, come to my office.~ "You can wait outside." She dismissed the messenger, a skinny man, before Alucard arrived. In her experience people had problems with seeing the way he travelled most of the time.
"Yes, Sir Knight." He bowed formally and backed away three steps before turning to leave her office. That and his odd mode of address both raised Sir Integra's curiousity, but she put it aside when Alucard arrived.
"Read this, and tell me what it's about." She thrust the sealed parchment at him with unconcealed anger. She couldn't believe the nerve of that creature to send a message that way, and treat her like some inferior go between. Alucard quickly opened the parchment and read it, before handing it over to her.
"She asks if she could come to visit me here, my master. She doesn't say for how long." What she could see of the letter confirmed that, although since it was written in Italian she'd have to take some time to read it properly later. "What is your wish my master?"
"What is your assessment of Alessandra's threat potential?"
"Minimal. Her soul is that of a courtesan, she far prefers to get what she wants by sex and seduction, if the Police Girl would just let me teach her how to fight properly she could well defeat Alessandra in a confrontation, or if she went berserk the same outcome might occur - at least if she was protecting someone. Alessandra never learned much about fighting, she didn't want to, she reminds me of my brides. You have the soul of a warrior queen, and the Police Girl is a guardian, a fighter, one who fights best when protecting someone, or something, but one who can be nurturing as well. And I think Alessandra shares my view on producing get, choose as few as you can, and always for some quality that you need, and is likely to survive the change."
Sir Integra found herself smiling at Alucard's assessment of her and Seras. "If Alessandra is a courtesan, I'm a warrior queen, and Seras is a guardian, what are you?"
"No one can assess his own soul accurately. But...the things I'm notorious for, slaughtering the people who killed Lisa, giving men something of a true vampire's strength, hunting down and killing much older No Life Kings, I felt I had reasons for them, even if other people didn't agree." She hadn't heard about that second item, and she'd heard that Alucard had killed a lot more humans than those who'd killed his wife.
:But never wantonly, never all at once, other than that, and stories I'm beginning to doubt, and always for a reason, even that was for a reason.: "You gave men something of a vampire's strength?"
"Yes, my castle and people needed to be protected when I went off to find and kill a No Life King who thought humans were only animals, and who was old enough that he might know how to change someone who was not chaste. It seemed better than changing them into nosferatu or ghouls."
It was, but..."You hunted your kind who treated humans as animals even before the seals?"
"Only if I thought they might have information of use to me." Alucard shrugged. "I could take some information from their minds, and take up to a fifth of their power as I drained them. The first one...he congratulated me on what I'd done to avenge Lisa...then spoke disparagingly of the cause, or her, and I killed him ion a berserk fury. That's when I caught a hint of the second way to make a nosferatu. Xander had taught me the trick to strengthen humans, but I only remembered it then, and that imperfectly, the old one's blood woke that memory, and I found a way to remember it better." He didn't elaborate, and Sir Integra didn't ask him to. "What is it that you wish me to write in reply to Alessandra?"
"She can come for a visit, but she is not invited to sleep here, not yet. And I expect to see her on her visit."
"She can come for a visit, but she is not invited to sleep here, not yet. And I expect to see her on her visit."
Alucard nodded, and took paper and pen from her desk to write the message, handing it over for her inspection before he left. It made Integra uncomfortable, and she couldn't help wondering if her ancestors had demanded that sort of thing from Alucard, or if they had made a point of keeping him from receiving or sending any correspondence. She called the messenger back and gave him Alucard's message without looking at it.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Alucard cursed to himself as he waited for Alessandra to arrive. He was grateful that Xander was here, but he wished that he'd been permitted to lean up against the Dark Guardian's legs the way the Police Girl was. Sir Integra certainly wasn't going to let him touch her. :At least Alessandra is just as tactile as I am, she'll at least greet me with a hug.: He'd written that she should make arrangements for her visit with Sir Integra, and this was the result - although somehow that had made his master feel guilty enough to let him have another night to enjoy himself out of the manor, a night he'd spent with Tanya.
Alessandra arrived alone - apparently she'd wanted to bring an escort of her get with her, but Sir Integra had forbidden that - shown in by Shinigami. She took in the entire room with a glance, and when she recognised the World's Heart she moved to curtsey in front of him, spreading the skirts of her old fashioned gown wide. She even held it until Xander realised what she intended.
"Get up Alessandra. I'm passing for human here anyway." The No Life Queen was blushing as she stood up, turning to Alucard, and pulling him into a hug, letting him enjoy the contact.
"Hello Vlad, I've missed you, but none of the other Hellsings would have been so reasonable. I still don't understand why they went after you rather than one of us who liked slaughtering humans."
Alucard forced himself to shrug, conscious of the shocked looks he was getting from Sir Integra and Seras, but not from Xander. "I was the one who gave them an opening, coming to England and trying to give Mina Harker immortality to keep her free of her husband. And I am the strongest of us now. The massacres some of the get of my kills committed on my lands in an effort at vengeance were misattributed to me as well." He shook his head in dismissal, reluctantly stepping away from her absent touch on his arm. "This is my master Sir Integra Fairchild Wingates Hellsing, and this is my newest get, Seras Victoria."
She pulled back then, giving a curtsey to Sir Integra, but not holding it as she had for Xander. "You are very beautiful Sir Knight, but a regal distant beauty. Your get is beautiful too Vlad, but a different type of beauty, for all that they are both blonde, one far more approachable." And neither of the two women radiated the pure sensuality of Alessandra. Half of Alessandra's get were male, bound to her by sex to protect her, and never permitted to become independent of her, the other half were female, lovers who she allowed to leave her after a time. "Can I borrow your get for a while? My last get just asked for her independence and left."
"Alessandra, not unless it's her choice. You know I don't approve of that tradition." :I don't like the way she treats her guards either, but the four of them seemed content when she visited me.:
"Master, what tradition is that?"
"Alucard, explain." The two questions came simultaneously, Alucard stepped over to Xander and pulled the Police Girl to her feet and up against him. He'd take that much pleasure anyway.
"It is simple. By mideon tradition until our get drink our blood we own them, we have the right to do whatever we wish with them, treat them however we please, and share them with whoever we wish. My get stayed with me of their own free will, or at least no more unwillingly than any wife or mistress stayed with a man in the time I changed them. If Lucy hadn't been damaged I would have given her freedom once she'd learned at least the minimum she needed to survive, and because she became a dhampir I never could control Mina. Did you ever free those four 'guards' of yours, the ones you wanted me to teach how to fight?"
"Why would I? I've made sure they're content." She'd learned ways to mess with people's emotions, force people to fixate on her and other sexual tricks that he hadn't, that had scared him to think about, but she'd learned very little of fighting, even though he hadn't known it at the time, he'd been a more skilled fighter when he was first taken into Xander's household than she was at that time. She'd improved a bit, but even now... "I still owe you for that, I know."
"No, you don't." Not after the time she'd spent teaching him the basics of their powers, even if some of the things she'd taught made his skin crawl. He released the Police Girl, letting her step away from him. "But if you want to teach the Police Girl some of the things she's so reluctant to learn from me I will not object. But please, take a seat." He aided her to sit, paying careful attention to helping her manage her full skirts, and allowing her to pull him down beside her while the Police Girl fled back to press against Xander's legs.
"If she's willing to learn then of course I will, since you are so insistent on free choice. You always were so very empathetic. And I am in your debt, even if you do not acknowledge it." But she changed the topic of conversation, and at the end Sir Integra had decided she was welcome to stay at the manor, with her household, so long as her guards helped with any missions that came up.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Alessandra's 'household' turned out to consist of her four guards, nosferatu of the same level as Seras - although much better trained as fighters according to Alucard, and four human women who were her maids. Integra was a little contemptuous of a woman who felt she needed so much help dressing, but she had to admit the effect was spectacular. And she'd been trying to sense things that she'd ignored before, Alessandra's guards felt indefinably weaker than Seras, but she couldn't say how.
~Alucard, is it just my imagination, or do Alessandra's guards have less power than Seras does?~
~You aren't imagining things. Seras is my get, I am older than Alessandra, at least five times her age, more likely eight, taking into account the time we spent with Xander's kind. That would make me much stronger than her even if I hadn't taken power from those of my elders I killed. Alessandra changed her guards when she was returned to this world, and because she never freed them they cannot grow to more than at most twice their initial strength. A nosferatu's initial strength is dependent on the strength of the one who changed him, among other things, and as far as I can tell Seras is superior due to most of the other factors as well. Even if she were not, it wouldn't be enough to compensate for the huge difference in power level. But they learned all I could teach them, Seras won't learn from me.~
~Yet you kept pressuring her to take your blood and her freedom.~
~She won't learn from me, but if she took her freedom...that would give her the option of learning from someone else, even another nosferatu. My reputation would have given her some protection even that way. But now that Xander is here it's encouraged her to learn.~
~Good.~ Seras was a weapon, a good person, but also a weapon, and the stronger her weapons were the better as far as Integra was concerned.
"You wished to speak with me Sir Integra?" The No Life Queen offered a graceful curtsey as she greeted the knight, but she rose to stand in front of the desk without waiting for permission, a subtle distinction in her opinion of Sir Integra's status as compared to Xander's.
"Yes, please, sit." She waited for Alessandra to obey before she continued speaking. "I understand that you prefer women, sexually, and lying with you would make it impossible for anyone to change me the normal way."
"Correct on both points Sir Integra, it would also be a liason that would not have any risk of producing unwelcome offspring."
Sir Integra smiled thinly. "I doubt that any offspring would be unwelcome to the Knights, I have been pressure to wed and produce an heir - presumably male - since I was sixteen. Doubtless they'd have started pressing me as soon as I was fertile if it wasn't illegal. There have even been some hints that they would accept a dhampir, or a bastard, or both, as long as I did reproduce."
"I see." Alessandra allowed herself to laugh at that, a rich, sensuous sound. "But what is your purpose in proposing this dalliance? I want you, and I would make it very pleasant for you, more pleasant than most men could manage, but I know that you do not desire me, you find Alucard, and the Dark Guardian far more appealing. And Alucard at least is pining over you."
:I didn't want to know that, and I can't afford to want Alucard.: Sir Integra pushed that thought away from her as quickly as she could. "I recently learned that the seals that control Alucard give me some ability to control his powers. He coached me through an exercise to enhance healing, but that was only within human parameters. I can use his telepathy as if it were mine, but I want more. And I want you to teach me."
"You understand that my skills run more towards the sensual than Alucard's? I had to get him to teach my guards how to fight, even though they are my get. I can't teach you how to use his power for anything but the basics and for seduction."
"That doen't matter." Integra felt like a whore for doing this, but she wanted to be less dependent on her gun, and her vampires, and after all, she was always being told that she needed to relax more, reputedly sex was a good way to do that. "As long as you can help me learn how to draw on Alucard's powers I can work out how to use them to fight with. I don't intend to put myself at unnecessary risk, but...I felt helpless when my father died, and I was lucky enough to wake Alucard to protect me, and more recently when the manor was assaulted. I don't ever want to feel helpless again."
"I can understand that. But, are you sure you are willing to trade your body for what you want? There are other things you could offer me."
"I'm always being told I should relax more." Alesssandra seemed confused by that comment, then when she understood it she laughed.
"I see. Kiss me to seal our bargain then." Integra tried to make it a simple brush of the lips, but Alessandra took hold of her waist, pulling Integra to straddle her, and licked at her mouth until she opened her lips for the other woman's tongue. Afterwards she realised that she would enjoy paying this debt. "Shall I wait in your bed for you?"
"Do, just make sure you are discrete."
~~~oo()oo~~~
Vlad watched the Dark Guardian leave, trying to work out what he'd meant by 'other things', until Gaius yelled at him to get back to the exercises he'd assigned. But he still wondered about those comments.
:The World's Heart has been touching me, and he took me from Arioch. Does he expect me to perform similar services for him? Was what he said, and the way he stroked my hair a hint? It won't be too bad if he does, if it was, he seemed to be disgusted by what Arioch was doing, so I don't think he'd want to hurt me as part of sex. And life here is much better than it was with Arioch. Warming his bed would be a small price to pay for all of this. I'll...go to him tonight. If it wasn't a hint he won't hurt me too much, even if he doesn't want me I don't think he'll be angry, or not too angry, if I try to please him, but if he was hinting, and I don't go...he'll be furious.:
"That's enough Vlad. You were moving better there, why don't we call it a day?"
"Yes sir." Vlad looked at the human in shock. He'd been so lost in his thoughts and what he'd been doing that he hadn't noticed the time passing. He fed as deeply as he could on the flesh thing before his lesson with Alessandra and then cleaned himself totally and used one of the tricks the younger vampire had taught him to dry his hair.
:I wish I dared get this cut off. It's too much hassle to maintain, but...Arioch liked my hair long, and I don't know if Lord Xander is the same.:
He made his way to the Dark Guardian's bedchamber, stripped, folding his clothes neatly and laying them to one side, and got into the bed to wait for his owner. No matter how scared the idea made him he was going to do whatever it took to keep his new master happy with him, happy enough to return him to Arioch when he tired of him.
"What the hell?" He'd managed to slip into a light sleep despite his anxiety while he was waiting for Xander - one thing being with Arioch had taught him was to get whatever respite he could, by now he could sleep even if he'd been chained up in any number of awkward positions. Vlad cowered back against the bed, rapidly reconsidering the wisdom of what he'd decided to do earlier. But the Dark Guardian didn't seem angry, more startled.
He moved forward and gently pulled the covers back to expose Vlad's naked body.
"What are you doing in my bed, like this?"
"I...I thought that you were hinting at...and I'm grateful to you for getting me away from Arioch. I wanted to show you just how grateful."
"First, I have never expected anyone to come to my bed unless they wanted to be there. And second, in this form I'm exclusively hetero - that means I only want women, never men." He must have sensed Vlad's confusion to explain like that. "It's about as rare as my being female, but that really doesn't matter. Do you have clothes here?"
"Yes lord."
"Then get dressed and get out of here." Vlad obeyed swiftly, praying to a God he no longer believed in that Xander wouldn't punish him for what he'd done. When he got back to his bedroom he threw himself down on the bed and let the tears fall down his face, hoping that he hadn't just screwed up so badly that the Dark Guardian planned to kill him.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Xander focused fully on controlling his temper as Vlad dressed and left his bedroom. He knew that the vampire would misunderstand the reason that he was angry if he let it show. vlad would assume that he was angry because he'd found himin his bed, not because Arioch had damaged him so badly that he thought he had to share Xander's bed to earn what he was being taught, and how he was being treated.
~Alessandra!~ The younger mideon came to him instantly.
"What's wrong my lord?"
"I found Vlad waiting for me in my bed, I want you to go to him, and reassure him that I'm not angry with him. I'm impressed with his courage and dedication to his family. Tell the others I'm sorry, I can't stay here now, I'm too pissed at what's been done to Vlad, and he'll assume I'm angry at him." And with that Xander dissolved into smoke, returning to the mortal world. But he wasn't going to return to Hellsing, not now. Instead he scanned the world for the most dangerous demon he could find.
There was a group of idiot children - well, they were in their early twenties, but they still seemed like children to him, even compared to Buffy or Willow - who had somehow managed to summon a Eighth Circle True Demon - not the hybrids that existed on Earth, but a True Demon. It wasn't as much of a threat as it would appear, the humans who'd summoned it had to remain alive to channel energy from whatever Hell dimension the creature came from to keep it on Earth, and they'd die in no more than a week from the strain. It would have been easy for Xander to get rid of it by killing the humans who'd now become the conduit for energy to keep the Demon on the planet, too easy, and he wanted to at least try to save them.
So, instead of just killing the humans he attacked the Demon, in a pure physical fight. Well, it was mostly physical. Even sealed he could allow his power to flow through him enough that his blows actually hurt the creature in a way that would take blessed silver, or Cold Iron, or enchantment under normal circumstances. Even so, more than once the only thing that saved him was his ability to teleport. It took him nearly ten hours, hours during which his immunity to magic, regenerative capacities, strength, speed and stamina were stretched to the limit, with the Demon realising that magical attacks only made Xander stronger about seven hours into the fight, but he finally managed to kill the Demon. Then he cursed himself for not thinking to take it outside of this world, to the one his people inhabited, but outside of any of their strongholds. If he'd done that, with no restrictions on his power, he could have killed the thing in an instant - except he'd wanted and needed an all out fight, not a simple execution.
He returned to the manor, not really thinking about where he should teleport to, except for wanting to be somewhere discrete, and so he had to walk through the grounds covered in blood and viscera, more the Demon's than his, but enough of his to scare people. The soldiers fell silent as he walked through them, and Xander wasn't up to saying anything either.
"Xander. What happened?" The blonde knight was standing waiting for him in the hallway, and Alucard was leaning against the wall behind her.
:Someone must have told Sir Integra, does she want me to pretend this was something she sent me on or...I'll claim it was for the Watcher's Council.: "Sir Integra, the Watcher's Council contacted me, to check I didn't have any mission for you. When I confirmed that I didn't they asked me to deal with an Eighth Circle Demon summoning. I had to destroy the Demon to save the idiots who summoned it, and everyone within a hundred miles."
"You could have invited me to join in the fun." Alucard actually managed to sound sulky, like a teenager told he couldn't go to a party. ~Why were you so enraged you felt the need to do this lord?~
~Because your past self thought he had to let me RAPE him to keep my protection!~ "That wasn't exactly an option Dragonling, they had Slayers available, and Buffy to the contrary, most Slayers don't work too well with vamps, of any breed. They just needed a tactical leader, someone who would recognise the Demon and know its weaknesses. And it helped I'm one hell of a lot harder to kill now. Takes a lickin', keeps on tickin', you know?"
"I see. Next time this happens inform me of it beforehand." That was all the reprimand Sir Integra made, and the soldiers all made a point of patting him on the back. Until Alucard decided to lift him into his arms.
"You did notice that he's exhausted. I'm sure he'll tell you all the stories you want to hear tomorrow."
Xander barely noticed it when Alucard laid him in his own bed, and absently granted him permission to taste the blood on his skin, which action prompted a sound of disgust at the taste. He trusted the vampire enough not to protest when he proceded to undress him, and fell asleep while that happened.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Sir Integra hadn't understood what Xander's report had meant at all, and she was certain that at least some of it was a lie. But he was all too clearly incapable of giving her a more accurate and full report under conditions where no one would overhear things he needed to keep secret. On the other hand...
~Alucard!~ It wasn't as satisfying to yell at the vampire mentally, but it meant that people didn't doubt her sanity the way they'd seemed to when she talked to him over a distance before.
~I'm busy cleaning the Dark Guardian up, do you really think he should sleep this off covered in demon blood?~
~Report to me when you've finished. I have some questions for you.~ Integra paused before she continued. ~How long do you think he'll need to recover?~
~Not very long, between one and two hours. He's recovering already, this deep sleep is just a quicker way than staying awake would be. It's a sign of trust. He could easily stay awake, and function at not that much less than his normal ablities. He'd still be recovered within a day at most.~
It took almost half an hour for Alucard to come to her office. "What took you so long?"
"Demon viscera can be hard to clean from someone's skin - especially when you're trying not to wake that person."
"How much of what Xander said was true, and how much was a lie?"
"It wasn't the Watchers who sent him after the Demon - he hunted it out and attacked it because he was angry, and wanted something to take his anger out on. And he was by himself."
"How do you know?"
The vampire shrugged slightly. "I know that if he's angry and can't get at the source of his anger for some reason he seeks out a fight for a good cause as tough as possible, or the most dangerous sparring partner he can find. And...he told me what prompted his actions."
"And what was that?"
"When he first borrowed me from Arioch I thought he wanted some of the same things, although not quite as violently I hoped."
:What does he mean? Oh, he's talking about sex. Is it still that painful for him?: "I don't see how that's relevant." Integra let her distaste for the subject fill her voice.
"He found out about the expectations my younger self had before he returned to this world, and fought the demon."
"What do you know about the demon then?"
"Noth-" A strange look passed over Alucard's face for a moment then. "I was going to say nothing, but I just remembered what he taught me during the hundred years or so before I was returned to this world. I was a 'special project' of his, and he made a point of teaching me about all types of demons in detail. The demon was summoned, so it was most likely a True Demon, dependent on energy drawn from its own dimension to stay in this world, and impossible to harm other than that caused by a weapon empowered by, or disruptive to, magic - meaning blessed silver, Cold Iron or enchanted weapons. Or Xander's own energy channeled into his body fully. The only demons that can stay on this world without support from a Hell dimension are...adulterated with something of humans, or some other creature native to this world. A human who undergoes an Ascension ritual to become a demon is also an adulterated demon, albeit one close in power to the form of True Demon he was aiming for - they usually end up in the appropriate Hell dimension, but they're rare, so they don't often get summoned. Most summoning rituals aren't that specific. Adulterated demons can be harmed by more mundane methods, they might heal quickly, but they can be harmed, and a powerful enough explosion will usually kill them at need. And usually anything that represents divinity will harm the weakest of the adulterated demons, even if it hasn't been blessed. Blessed blades work on most adulterated demons, but only on a few True Demons, depending on who did the blessing, and how."
"So, now you're as good a source for information on demons as Xander is?"
"Not quite, but good enough, my master." And then the blasted vampire decided to disappear.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Alucard returned to Xander's bedroom. He wasn't sure how well the other man would take having Alucard guard him while he slept, but...he thought better when he was around the World's Heart, and he had the feeling Xander's sleep would be more restful with someone around to watch over him. And he needed to think. He wasn't sure whether to be grateful that he knew all of that about demons, or resent the fact that he hadn't been able to remember it before this. All he was certain of was that he was relieved he knew what he'd spent the last time he'd been lent to the Dark Guardian learning. He hadn't been able to remember it before and it had bothered him, quite a lot.
His mind turned to what had happened after his attempt to earn Xander's favour in his bed. First Alessandra had come to him, comforted him and reassured him until he finally believed that the World's Heart wouldn't punish him for his stupidity. But she'd mentioned that he'd left because of what he'd done, and he was terrified that the rest of the people sworn to the Dark Guardian would be angry at that - he'd seen how much they loved him - and make his life a misery because of that.
So, when Gaius had explained that he was to be punished for his stupidity officially the next day at first he was frozen stiff with terror, until he learned exactly how he would be punished. Gaius had explained that he would be strapped every day, until their lord returned, and he'd gone limp with relief, because on the physical side it was such a light punishment, even with the strange ointment they used to slow his healing down to a human rate, and it would cut off any efforts at informal punishment.
Alucard chuckled as he thought about it. Even then he'd been powerful enough, if he'd really recognised the fact, to kill everyone there, except possibly Alessandra, but he'd submitted to their punishment because he was so used to being hurt and abused, and kept under cruel discipline that it had never occurred to him that he had another option. And it was a light discipline, something even a human could have survived without undue suffering, he'd been far more worried about losing any of the things he'd come to see as priviledges under Arioch's care, like being permitted to stay clean, or having the chance to learn about his powers and how to fight better.
"Wha-?" Xander stirred then, sitting up and looking directly at Alucard. "Why are you here?" His voice was colder than usual, and Alucard knew it was because of what his younger self had done.
"I think better in your presence World's Heart. Sir Integra asked me about demons, and I remembered what you taught me last of all, I explained to her the difference between True Demons and adulterated, and I expect she'll want you to give her a fuller report later."
"I see. Did you undress and clean me?"
"Yes, does that offend you, that I tended to you as if you were a wounded warrior?"
"Guess not. What in Hell's name were you thinking when you offered yourself to me back then?"
"I thought that you hinted for me to come to your bed, and if you wanted me and I didn't come I'd be in more trouble than if you didn't and I did." Xander looked disgusted at that.
"Get out of my sight. Give me time to deal, we'll talk later. I don't hold what happened against you, I promise."
~~~oo()oo~~~
Xander muttered a few curses to himself as he left Sir Integra's office. She'd kept him answering her questions for nigh on two hours, and ended up getting an exhaustive, detailed description of his fight with the Demon - although not of what had prompted it, beyond a simple confirmation that Vlad, Alucard's younger self had offered himself to Xander. Integra had expressed surprise that he would refuse, she hadn't said it, but Xander thought the main reason she'd said no to Alucard was fear of losing her control over him. So he'd had to explain again that in this life he was exclusively heterosexual - and even if he hadn't been, in no life had he ever raped, and sleeping with someone so totally in his power was rape, however much it was dressed up and disguised. Integra had looked slightly guilty at that - Alucard was almost as totally in her power now as Vlad had been in his - and he made a point of reminding her that Alucard could appeal to Xander to destroy the seals, and free him at any time, Xander would have to give him what he asked for, but he hadn't asked for it.
And now he had the choice of seeking out Alucard and speaking to him about Vlad's actions, finding out the motivation behind them in more detail, and understanding the younger No Life King better, or letting the soldiers ambush him to answer their questions about how he'd killed the Demon yesterday, questions he didn't want to answer again. :Alucard's the better option.: And he quickly searched the manor for the vampire mentally.
"Hello Alucard." He formed out of smoke in the catacombs and the mideon looked at him with wide shocked eyes.
"Hello. What did you wish to discuss in regards to my behaviour?" He sounded as if he'd accepted that he was to be judged, although unsure of what for, and considered Xander to be acting perfectly within his rights.
"Did you really think I would demand that you have sex with me in return for the protection I'd given you? Even after you heard me talk of sending Alessandra back to Morrigan without any prejudice?" Xander knew the disgust he felt at that idea was plain in his voice.
"You also told me that she'd been sharing your bed for nigh on seventy-five years, and at the time I interpreted what you said as meaning you would return her because she would no longer have sex with you. Arioch had lent me to others of your kind, including Jenova." Alucard had slid from his seat as he spoke, offering it to Xander as he curled up on the floor instead, and he shuddered slightly at mentioning Jenova's name - the only one of their kind more cruel than Arioch. Xander reached out and ran a hand swiftly down his back, as if he were petting a dog, calming him. "They all demanded sex, I couldn't see any reason you would be different."
"Hellfires. I scared you with my reaction I think, did Alessandra manage to calm you down and reassure you of your place with me?" Xander swallowed uncomfortably before he asked the next question. "And...did you come to learn better than to think I would rape you?"
"Yes, to both questions," Alucard twisted to smile up at Xander as he answered, "but...you still didn't return to your home for a number of days. Can you arrange for the next few days to be busy? I'm not asking you to force mideons to cause trouble, just if any are going to in the near future can you get them to do it now? Or over the next week or two?"
"I'm not sure." Xander shut his eyes, reaching out with his mind to sense all the mideons in Brittain - and his eyes snapped open as he realised he could sense the FREAK vampires too. "Yes, I think I can, but not now, this needs to be done subtly. Did I claim the press of battles when I returned to explain why I'd neglected them?" He could also sense that Alessandra was in the country, but she was never a fighter, and her behaviour had reflected that, so he didn't bother mentioning her.
"You might have, I do not remember. I just thought it might help convince the men how dangerous you are, even better than your casual comment about destroying a Demon." There was something Alucard wasn't telling him, but Xander dismissed that, it didn't really matter. He sighed and prepared to face the soldiers to explain what had happened the day before.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Sir Integra let herself collapse into her chair, looking over the paperwork in front of her with pure despair. She had to sign off on, and in some cases write, reports for every action the Hellsing organisation undertook, and for the last fortnight there hadn't been so much as a night that had passed without action. But they'd had far fewer casualties that she'd have expected, less even than they'd have had with normal activity, and Integra suspected that was because of Xander. Not only was he the best fighter she had - or second best with the way he held himself back, but he'd persuaded Seras to feed enough that she'd almost doubled in strength. She'd been able to send Seras to deal with the weaker of the FREAKs, along with a squad or more of human soldiers to back her up and dispose of the ghouls, while Alucard and Xander dealt with the stronger of the FREAKs, and killed all the ghouls too without any further back-up.
There was a respectful knock at the door. Sir Integra muttered a curse to herself. :I have to let them in, but if it's Seras to complain again about the training Xander's giving her...: Xander had insisted on continuing to train Seras in how to feed without killing, despite the pressures Hellsing was under, and he'd informed her that the sparring they did beforehand would help her gain greater control. "Come in."
"Hello Sir Integra."
"Xander, you better have a good reason to interrupt me. I have far too much paperwork to be interrupted for anything trivial."
"I wanted to invite you to visit my home. Wait!" Xander lifted one hand to forestall her exploding in fury. "Before you say anything else, let me explain. I can set up an office for you within seconds. You can pick up as much of that paperwork as you want, and take it with you, finish it over the course of a week or so, and I can return us to this instant, or not too long after - ten minutes or so perhaps. I wasn't aware of how much paperwork this constant campaign would generate, or I would never have done as Alucard asked and encouraged the mideon derived vampires who were going to cause trouble within the next six months to all cause trouble at the maximum rate we could deal with militarily. It didn't occur to me that we had more military than administrative capabilities - no fault of yours of course. But I can promise you that we'll only have to deal with one more week at most, and then the next six months should be almost totally free of trouble."
"Very well." Sir Integra began gathering her papers together, picking up a few pens and pencils too as she spoke. "Do you know why that blasted vampire asked you to do that? And why did you agree?" She would save a lecture for later, when they were safe from any chance of eavesdroppers.
"I think he might be trying to manipulate things, so that something he remembers happening to him when he was Vlad actually does happen. I can't blame him for that, and I would have told him not to reveal too much of his past even to me when it lay in my future. I knew he wasn't telling me something, but I did what he asked as much to give the men something else to talk about besides that Demon as for any other reason." Once Sir Integra had gathered all her papers the World's Heart reached out and laid a hand on her arm. She could feel herself dissolving into smoke, then they reappeared in a remarkable replica of her own office.
"You are exhausted Sir Integra. Why not put the papers down, I can introduce you to some of my people, and we can eat. Then I'll show you to a bedroom. Unfortunately, the clothes I've prepared for you don't include underthings, so I'd ask that you give what you're wearing to the maid, and she can have clean things for you in the morning." He gave her another of his disturbing smiles. "Then you can shout at me the way you clearly want to once you're fresh."
Stunned to be so adroitly anticipated, and reminding herself that she was a guest in Xander's home, Sir Integra could only nod her agreement. She set down her papers, and turned to Xander, waiting for him to guide her.
"Why didn't you prepare underthings for me?" She was embarrassed to be asking the question, but it was better than any of the alternatives that sprang to her mind.
"I don't know the right sizes or styles. And it would be inappropriate for me to find out. One of the magical things I created here to make my people's lives easier will make your underthings for you in whatever style you're wearing today. That's how my people get most of their clothing."
~~~oo()oo~~~
~Vlad, Alessandra, Gaius Antonio Aurelius, Gwenhwyvar nic Mael, come to me.~
Vlad hesitated for a moment, despite Xander's generous assumption when he'd arrived he'd only learned how to travel through linked dimensions in the last three days, and he wasn't entirely certain of his skills yet. Then he shrugged. :I can try to enter the linked dimension at least, if I can't get out of it, well, Alessandra and the Dark Guardian will be there, to rescue me from my folly.:
He didn't have any problems, just as well. He wouldn't have wanted to look like a fool in front of the tall platinum blonde sitting beside Lord Xander dressed in a form of obviously male formal wear radiating contempt so strongly that he immediately dropped to his knees in fear and respect. Alessandra obviously didn't perceive this human woman's strength of character in the same way he did, that or she didn't respect it as he did, for she chose to lounge beside her, near to touching her, but with enough sense to at least keep from that.
"I thought we'd been over this Vlad. Get up please." There was a weariness in the World's Heart's voice, and Vlad suddenly found himself filled with self-hatred for putting it there. He recovered from that in seconds, and stood, eyes lowered submissively, waiting for the others to arrive. Gaius just stood to attention to show his respect, but Gwenhwyvar swept a curtsey, waiting for their master to grant her permission to rise.
"This is Sir Integra, head of the Hellsing organisation. She is my guest, and as such you should show her your respect."
:Obey her wishes without question.: That was what the polite formula would mean if it were Arioch speaking. :Or, perhaps the Dark Guardian will accept obedience within reason, he doesn't seem as strict as Arioch.:
"Sir Integra, Gaius Antonio Aurelius is head of my personal guard, he takes care of training my people in fighting, and updating their skills as needed. Gwenhwyvar nic Mael is my chatelaine, she runs my household. Gwen, assign someone to Sir Integra to act as her maid please."
"Yes my lord."
"Alessandra and Vlad are the two mideons I'm currently borrowing. Alessandra belongs to Morrigan, and Vlad to Arioch. Thank you all, you can go, except for you Vlad." The woman remained silent until the others had left.
"So, this will become our Alucard? I could kill him now, and save a lot of trouble." The woman spoke so dispassionately that it was more fearsome than fury or hatred would have been, and Vlad looked to the Dark Guardian in desperate appeal.
"Even if I allowed it, how much good has he done since your ancestor enslaved him? And how many times has he saved your life, or your family name?" Vlad let his relief show at that, and the Dark Guardian turned to him. "I'm sorry about that, you need not have anything more to do with her, but she asked to speak with you, and..." He shrugged, but Vlad understood.
"Might I go then?"
"Yes, of course."
The blonde stayed for five days, spending most of them in the office Xander had created for her, and during that time Vlad sparred with Xander daily. He also finally got up the courage to ask for permission to cut his hair, and was granted it without thought on Xander's part.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Xander decided to make a verbal report to Sir Integra in person as well as the written reports he'd sent to her by e-mail, because this was the last of the incidents he'd accelerated. One thing he'd used to assuage his aching conscience was the thought that these incidents were easier to put down than they would have been if their originators had been given sufficient time to complete their planning; the other of course was that his presence had spared the men most of the risks they'd have had to take acting as Alucard's back-up.
"Xander, I've received your report on your actions in putting down that last nosferatu, and Alucard's, which I assume you prepared for him based on his verbal report?"
"We did it telepathically, but yes, it was the more secure way to do things, any distance communications I initiate can't be intercepted, by anything."
"Thank you anyway. It has relieved me of one duty. Alucard cannot be relied upon to write reports, so until your arrival I had to prepare them for him based upon his verbal report to me."
"If I might ask, why can't you have Alucard write his own reports? I'll teach him the basics of using a computer at some point, is it that you don't think he can do it right, or that you don't think he'd obey you if you told him to?" Xander frowned as he speculated on Sir Integra's reasons. The blonde blushed very faintly.
"Both, I thought he had no experience at all with the more modern equipment, and writing reports hardly seems to be the sort of thing he would do willingly."
"He's done far more unpleasant things because his master at the time commanded it." Xander shrugged as he explained. "But you couldn't have known that. And if you thought he lacked the skills you could have instructed someone to teach him them, but if you thought he would not accept the lessons that would have been pointless. If you'll provide an appropriate computer then I can teach him, so long as you're willing to accept a delay in receiving his reports. But none of this is the reason I came here."
"There's a number of general use terminals, you can ask most people to direct you to them, and I'll have Walter arrange for a personal computer to be set up in Alucard's bedroom, with an internet connection. Do try to make sure he knows he has to limit his use of the internet." Sir Integra frowned then. "Why did you come here? Is this going to be the last time we have to respond to an incident for a while?"
"Pretty much. Vampires might plan something new, but other than that nothing else should happen in the next six months or so."
"Good." Sir Integra was still angry about what she'd learned was the source of the most recent spurt of activity, and Xander knew she'd given Alucard a lecture, just as she'd given him one on how foolish they'd been. "You may leave then."
"Good." Sir Integra was still angry about what she'd learned was the source of the most recent spurt of activity, and Xander knew she'd given Alucard a lecture, just as she'd given him one on how foolish they'd been. "You may leave then."
He didn't have anything more to say, and he couldn't blame Sir Integra for her anger, it was entirely justified, so Xander simply took the unsubtle hint and left, accepting her decision to dismiss him from her presence. But he still needed something to do to release his own anger at being treated that way. So he sought out Seras and told her that he wanted to spar with her again.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Sir Integra was not going to let this messenger disconcert her, even if the message he carried was unnerving.
'Sir Integra Hellsing,
'Please give the enclosed message to the No Life King once known as Vlad, who was changed by Arioch. My messenger will await his response, and of course yours.
'Alessandra, Morrigan's favoured.'
The enclosed message was a folded piece of parchment, sealed with wax, not something she'd ever expected to see outside of history books, and it was addressed to 'Vlad, Arioch's favoured'.
~Alucard, come to my office.~ "You can wait outside." She dismissed the messenger, a skinny man, before Alucard arrived. In her experience people had problems with seeing the way he travelled most of the time.
"Yes, Sir Knight." He bowed formally and backed away three steps before turning to leave her office. That and his odd mode of address both raised Sir Integra's curiousity, but she put it aside when Alucard arrived.
"Read this, and tell me what it's about." She thrust the sealed parchment at him with unconcealed anger. She couldn't believe the nerve of that creature to send a message that way, and treat her like some inferior go between. Alucard quickly opened the parchment and read it, before handing it over to her.
"She asks if she could come to visit me here, my master. She doesn't say for how long." What she could see of the letter confirmed that, although since it was written in Italian she'd have to take some time to read it properly later. "What is your wish my master?"
"What is your assessment of Alessandra's threat potential?"
"Minimal. Her soul is that of a courtesan, she far prefers to get what she wants by sex and seduction, if the Police Girl would just let me teach her how to fight properly she could well defeat Alessandra in a confrontation, or if she went berserk the same outcome might occur - at least if she was protecting someone. Alessandra never learned much about fighting, she didn't want to, she reminds me of my brides. You have the soul of a warrior queen, and the Police Girl is a guardian, a fighter, one who fights best when protecting someone, or something, but one who can be nurturing as well. And I think Alessandra shares my view on producing get, choose as few as you can, and always for some quality that you need, and is likely to survive the change."
Sir Integra found herself smiling at Alucard's assessment of her and Seras. "If Alessandra is a courtesan, I'm a warrior queen, and Seras is a guardian, what are you?"
"No one can assess his own soul accurately. But...the things I'm notorious for, slaughtering the people who killed Lisa, giving men something of a true vampire's strength, hunting down and killing much older No Life Kings, I felt I had reasons for them, even if other people didn't agree." She hadn't heard about that second item, and she'd heard that Alucard had killed a lot more humans than those who'd killed his wife.
:But never wantonly, never all at once, other than that, and stories I'm beginning to doubt, and always for a reason, even that was for a reason.: "You gave men something of a vampire's strength?"
"Yes, my castle and people needed to be protected when I went off to find and kill a No Life King who thought humans were only animals, and who was old enough that he might know how to change someone who was not chaste. It seemed better than changing them into nosferatu or ghouls."
It was, but..."You hunted your kind who treated humans as animals even before the seals?"
"Only if I thought they might have information of use to me." Alucard shrugged. "I could take some information from their minds, and take up to a fifth of their power as I drained them. The first one...he congratulated me on what I'd done to avenge Lisa...then spoke disparagingly of the cause, or her, and I killed him ion a berserk fury. That's when I caught a hint of the second way to make a nosferatu. Xander had taught me the trick to strengthen humans, but I only remembered it then, and that imperfectly, the old one's blood woke that memory, and I found a way to remember it better." He didn't elaborate, and Sir Integra didn't ask him to. "What is it that you wish me to write in reply to Alessandra?"
"She can come for a visit, but she is not invited to sleep here, not yet. And I expect to see her on her visit."
"She can come for a visit, but she is not invited to sleep here, not yet. And I expect to see her on her visit."
Alucard nodded, and took paper and pen from her desk to write the message, handing it over for her inspection before he left. It made Integra uncomfortable, and she couldn't help wondering if her ancestors had demanded that sort of thing from Alucard, or if they had made a point of keeping him from receiving or sending any correspondence. She called the messenger back and gave him Alucard's message without looking at it.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Alucard cursed to himself as he waited for Alessandra to arrive. He was grateful that Xander was here, but he wished that he'd been permitted to lean up against the Dark Guardian's legs the way the Police Girl was. Sir Integra certainly wasn't going to let him touch her. :At least Alessandra is just as tactile as I am, she'll at least greet me with a hug.: He'd written that she should make arrangements for her visit with Sir Integra, and this was the result - although somehow that had made his master feel guilty enough to let him have another night to enjoy himself out of the manor, a night he'd spent with Tanya.
Alessandra arrived alone - apparently she'd wanted to bring an escort of her get with her, but Sir Integra had forbidden that - shown in by Shinigami. She took in the entire room with a glance, and when she recognised the World's Heart she moved to curtsey in front of him, spreading the skirts of her old fashioned gown wide. She even held it until Xander realised what she intended.
"Get up Alessandra. I'm passing for human here anyway." The No Life Queen was blushing as she stood up, turning to Alucard, and pulling him into a hug, letting him enjoy the contact.
"Hello Vlad, I've missed you, but none of the other Hellsings would have been so reasonable. I still don't understand why they went after you rather than one of us who liked slaughtering humans."
Alucard forced himself to shrug, conscious of the shocked looks he was getting from Sir Integra and Seras, but not from Xander. "I was the one who gave them an opening, coming to England and trying to give Mina Harker immortality to keep her free of her husband. And I am the strongest of us now. The massacres some of the get of my kills committed on my lands in an effort at vengeance were misattributed to me as well." He shook his head in dismissal, reluctantly stepping away from her absent touch on his arm. "This is my master Sir Integra Fairchild Wingates Hellsing, and this is my newest get, Seras Victoria."
She pulled back then, giving a curtsey to Sir Integra, but not holding it as she had for Xander. "You are very beautiful Sir Knight, but a regal distant beauty. Your get is beautiful too Vlad, but a different type of beauty, for all that they are both blonde, one far more approachable." And neither of the two women radiated the pure sensuality of Alessandra. Half of Alessandra's get were male, bound to her by sex to protect her, and never permitted to become independent of her, the other half were female, lovers who she allowed to leave her after a time. "Can I borrow your get for a while? My last get just asked for her independence and left."
"Alessandra, not unless it's her choice. You know I don't approve of that tradition." :I don't like the way she treats her guards either, but the four of them seemed content when she visited me.:
"Master, what tradition is that?"
"Alucard, explain." The two questions came simultaneously, Alucard stepped over to Xander and pulled the Police Girl to her feet and up against him. He'd take that much pleasure anyway.
"It is simple. By mideon tradition until our get drink our blood we own them, we have the right to do whatever we wish with them, treat them however we please, and share them with whoever we wish. My get stayed with me of their own free will, or at least no more unwillingly than any wife or mistress stayed with a man in the time I changed them. If Lucy hadn't been damaged I would have given her freedom once she'd learned at least the minimum she needed to survive, and because she became a dhampir I never could control Mina. Did you ever free those four 'guards' of yours, the ones you wanted me to teach how to fight?"
"Why would I? I've made sure they're content." She'd learned ways to mess with people's emotions, force people to fixate on her and other sexual tricks that he hadn't, that had scared him to think about, but she'd learned very little of fighting, even though he hadn't known it at the time, he'd been a more skilled fighter when he was first taken into Xander's household than she was at that time. She'd improved a bit, but even now... "I still owe you for that, I know."
"No, you don't." Not after the time she'd spent teaching him the basics of their powers, even if some of the things she'd taught made his skin crawl. He released the Police Girl, letting her step away from him. "But if you want to teach the Police Girl some of the things she's so reluctant to learn from me I will not object. But please, take a seat." He aided her to sit, paying careful attention to helping her manage her full skirts, and allowing her to pull him down beside her while the Police Girl fled back to press against Xander's legs.
"If she's willing to learn then of course I will, since you are so insistent on free choice. You always were so very empathetic. And I am in your debt, even if you do not acknowledge it." But she changed the topic of conversation, and at the end Sir Integra had decided she was welcome to stay at the manor, with her household, so long as her guards helped with any missions that came up.
~~~oo()oo~~~
Alessandra's 'household' turned out to consist of her four guards, nosferatu of the same level as Seras - although much better trained as fighters according to Alucard, and four human women who were her maids. Integra was a little contemptuous of a woman who felt she needed so much help dressing, but she had to admit the effect was spectacular. And she'd been trying to sense things that she'd ignored before, Alessandra's guards felt indefinably weaker than Seras, but she couldn't say how.
~Alucard, is it just my imagination, or do Alessandra's guards have less power than Seras does?~
~You aren't imagining things. Seras is my get, I am older than Alessandra, at least five times her age, more likely eight, taking into account the time we spent with Xander's kind. That would make me much stronger than her even if I hadn't taken power from those of my elders I killed. Alessandra changed her guards when she was returned to this world, and because she never freed them they cannot grow to more than at most twice their initial strength. A nosferatu's initial strength is dependent on the strength of the one who changed him, among other things, and as far as I can tell Seras is superior due to most of the other factors as well. Even if she were not, it wouldn't be enough to compensate for the huge difference in power level. But they learned all I could teach them, Seras won't learn from me.~
~Yet you kept pressuring her to take your blood and her freedom.~
~She won't learn from me, but if she took her freedom...that would give her the option of learning from someone else, even another nosferatu. My reputation would have given her some protection even that way. But now that Xander is here it's encouraged her to learn.~
~Good.~ Seras was a weapon, a good person, but also a weapon, and the stronger her weapons were the better as far as Integra was concerned.
"You wished to speak with me Sir Integra?" The No Life Queen offered a graceful curtsey as she greeted the knight, but she rose to stand in front of the desk without waiting for permission, a subtle distinction in her opinion of Sir Integra's status as compared to Xander's.
"Yes, please, sit." She waited for Alessandra to obey before she continued speaking. "I understand that you prefer women, sexually, and lying with you would make it impossible for anyone to change me the normal way."
"Correct on both points Sir Integra, it would also be a liason that would not have any risk of producing unwelcome offspring."
Sir Integra smiled thinly. "I doubt that any offspring would be unwelcome to the Knights, I have been pressure to wed and produce an heir - presumably male - since I was sixteen. Doubtless they'd have started pressing me as soon as I was fertile if it wasn't illegal. There have even been some hints that they would accept a dhampir, or a bastard, or both, as long as I did reproduce."
"I see." Alessandra allowed herself to laugh at that, a rich, sensuous sound. "But what is your purpose in proposing this dalliance? I want you, and I would make it very pleasant for you, more pleasant than most men could manage, but I know that you do not desire me, you find Alucard, and the Dark Guardian far more appealing. And Alucard at least is pining over you."
:I didn't want to know that, and I can't afford to want Alucard.: Sir Integra pushed that thought away from her as quickly as she could. "I recently learned that the seals that control Alucard give me some ability to control his powers. He coached me through an exercise to enhance healing, but that was only within human parameters. I can use his telepathy as if it were mine, but I want more. And I want you to teach me."
"You understand that my skills run more towards the sensual than Alucard's? I had to get him to teach my guards how to fight, even though they are my get. I can't teach you how to use his power for anything but the basics and for seduction."
"That doen't matter." Integra felt like a whore for doing this, but she wanted to be less dependent on her gun, and her vampires, and after all, she was always being told that she needed to relax more, reputedly sex was a good way to do that. "As long as you can help me learn how to draw on Alucard's powers I can work out how to use them to fight with. I don't intend to put myself at unnecessary risk, but...I felt helpless when my father died, and I was lucky enough to wake Alucard to protect me, and more recently when the manor was assaulted. I don't ever want to feel helpless again."
"I can understand that. But, are you sure you are willing to trade your body for what you want? There are other things you could offer me."
"I'm always being told I should relax more." Alesssandra seemed confused by that comment, then when she understood it she laughed.
"I see. Kiss me to seal our bargain then." Integra tried to make it a simple brush of the lips, but Alessandra took hold of her waist, pulling Integra to straddle her, and licked at her mouth until she opened her lips for the other woman's tongue. Afterwards she realised that she would enjoy paying this debt. "Shall I wait in your bed for you?"
"Do, just make sure you are discrete."
~~~oo()oo~~~